- Shooting: Giovanni Cernogoraz and Anton Glasnović both advanced to the final of the Men’s trap Monday morning as they finished the prelims in 5th and 6th, leaving them still with some work to do to get onto the podium. They were one target behind third place going into the finals where 25 more targets are shot. The leader going into the final was Michael Diamond, who was 125/125 which tied the world record but it would not be his day as he missed five targets in the finals to slip out of the medal positions. Glasnović struggled in the final, shooting 21/25 and finished in 6th. Cernogoraz shot near perfectly, hitting 24 and putting himself in a gold medal shootoff against Masimmo Fabbrizi of Italy. Cernogoraz was in tears after realizing he had clinched a medal and he needed to focus quickly for the shootoff.
- The shootoff in Men’s Trap is sudden death so the first shooter to hit when the other one misses is crowned the champion. Both men hit their first five shots before Fabbrizi missed, giving Cernogoraz a shot for gold. He hit the clay and successfully completed his remarkable move from sixth to first in the final! While he didn’t come out of nowhere, Cernogoraz was not expected to be much of a medal contender, although he did win this year’s European Championships which many dismissed as a fluke. Cernograz was born in Koper and currently resides in Novigrad, where he works at his family’s restaurant. He expressed interest in joining the army or police in post-event interviews, as did Glasnović.
“This gold medal is fantastic. This is very good for me, for my family and for the country. I did not expect to win. I was just hoping to make it to the final.” -Giovanni Cernogoraz
- Bojan Durković finished 35th in the prelims of the Men’s 50m rifle 3 positions with an average score of 9.6.
Jakov Gojun, Igor Vori, and Ivano Balić thank the fans for their support
- Men’s Handball: Croatian handball picked up yet another quality victory as they beat Spain 30-25 in their last group game. The game was close until the final ten minutes when Croatia went on a good run and scored nine goals. The team has been very good in the final stretches of all their games where they turn up the heat and their opponents have been unable to respond. Ivan Cupić and Blazenko Laković led the team with seven goals apiece. Croatia will play the weakest team to advance, Tunisia, in the quarterfinals on Wednesday. Tunisia were 2-3 in the group stage, defeating GB and Argentina. Croatia will be expected to beat them and will play the winner of the France/Spain match if they do.
None of the quarter-finalists are bad teams. Tunisia have aggressive and physical play, plus we always play worse against African teams. –Ivano Balić
Andro Bušlje
- Men’s Water Polo: Croatia easily defeated Kazakhstan in their final preliminary game as they finished on top of the group and with a 5-0 record. Croatia came out strong and led 4-0 after the first quarter. They then were able to take their feet of the gas and cruise to victory against the winless Kazakhs. They went on to win 12-4 as they used their size and skill to dominate the Kazakhs. Kazakhstan could not contain center forward, Nikša Dobud, who weighs 260 pounds, as he went on to score five goals. Croatia will now face the United States in the quarterfinals. The U.S shocked Croatia at Beijing in 2008, beating them 7-5 and finishing above them in their group. The teams have played each other twice this summer, with the U.S winning the game at the Rose Bowl, and Croatia winning in the FINA World League semi-final. Croatia will come in as slight favorites as the U.S went 3-2 in their group, although it was much more difficult than Croatia’s and the U.S are the reigning runner-ups.
“If we lose there we go home, so we need to be good at the right time in the quarterfinal and then we go for medals and that’s the reason we came here.” –Nikša Dobud
Martin Marić releases the discus
- Athletics: Martin Marić and Roland Varga both failed to qualify for the finals of the discus competition, throwing well under their personal bests. The distance required to advance to the final was 63.55 meters and Marić had thrown over 66m this year. Marić threw 62.87 meters, putting him in 17th out of 41, while Varga threw 58.17 meters, putting him in 36th.
Nenad Zugaj gets thrown by Karam Ibrahim
- Wrestling: Nenad Žugaj lost his opening match in the 84kg Greco-Roman competition in the round of 16 to Karam Ibrahim of Egypt. Ibrahim was able to get into the gold medal match however, which meant Nenad would take part in the repechages. In wrestling, anyone who loses to the wrestlers that make the championship are entered into the repechage. Nenad faced Melonin Noumonvi in the semi-finals of the repechage. Noumonvi defeated Zugaj 3-0 and the Zugaj twins will go home without a medal and an 0-3 record.
Luck was not on the side of Tonci Stipanovic in the Laser
- Sailing: Tonči Stipanović finished in 8th in the medal, while the man he needed to beat, Rasmus Myrgren, finished in 6th. Tonci received a penalty during the race, which meant he had to sail an extra lap around a buoy, and he ended the Men’s Laser competition in 4th overall. Šime Fantela and Igor Marenić moved into 9th in the Men’s 470 after winning the eighth race of the competition. Pavle Costov and Petar Cupać finished the 49er in 17th.
“I am totally disappointed, I’ve never more prepared. This is a weird feeling. Seriously, I didn’t have any luck in this race. And that penalty, who gets a penalty called on 20 knots of wind, I still can’t believe that they gave it to me. After the race I went to go ask the referee why, but the referee went away from me. In my entire life I have received three penalties and now I get one here.” –Tonči Stipanović
who cares. It’s female soccer……it’s canadian soccer and it’s female canadian soccer.
For those lesbians out there who do follow female soccer there is much more interest in a Japan-USA rematch from the World Cup than a Canada-Japan final.
Besides, its female soccer…..so i am sure there is some type participation medal/certificate just for showing up and competing.
@”The Anonymous 1″
Read my post above yours as that is what should have transpired.
“The refs call on the goalie for keeping the ball to long was “technically” a good call!!! It states in the rule book to award an indirect free kick in that case.”
She was never warned by the head referee/official, and if you want to get technical than the PK should never have stood.
Canada was screwed any way you slice it. That call is never ever made and for obvious reasons. It was a mind boggling call at the time and will continue to be. To defend the decision of an indirect free kick is completely a homer decision and bias all the way. This is starting to get ridiculous and I have said my peace on the subject matter throughout this thread and there is nothing more to say. Wait a minute, I forgot one thing….
Was this the correct call?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ani9Wkx-TE
Yes that was a heartbreaking loss for the Canadian womans soccer team. The refs call on the goalie for keeping the ball to long was “technically” a good call!!! It states in the rule book to award an indirect free kick in that case. However never do you see the ref making that call, you see the ref handing out a yellow card instead and thats why the debate has taken place.
On that note, if a team scores 3 fuckin goals in a soccer game, that team should win!!!! 3 leads in the game? and they shoot themselves in the foot. Maybe the Canadian girls need to know how to shut the opponent down!!!! Never the less was a real good soccer game…
@Franjo Tudjman
What the referee could have legally done was to wait until the ball was next out of play, then approach the goalkeeper, give her a warning or simply issue her a yellow card for unsporting behavior. Then restart the game with whatever the proper restart after the ball had gone out of play, i.e. throw-in. This way the referee gets her message across and does not influence the result of the game.
@Franjo Tudjman
“1) It is true that the Canadian goalkeeper admitted she was warned by at least one of the referees to get rid of the ball sooner and then said something such as “but I didn’t think it was really a warning”. Then what the heck did she thing it was?”
The ref cowered to U.S. pressure. She was intimidated and did not take control of the situation. If she wanted to get the point across to McLeod, than she would have had to do the same for Solo. She should have given McLeod a full and proper warning. She did not do that and as a result it was handled very poorly. Wambach can do her counting, but as an official I would warn her to lay off, and then if she continued I’d card her for dissent. But I would also talk to McLeod in very clear terms that if she delays again, she will be penalized. She should have just let the play go on. There was no reason to blow the play dead as it was irrelevant and has no bearing on the wrongness of the call.
“At least two US players have said that in addition to the Assistant Referee, the Center Referee warned her to get rid of it sooner.”
That is reliable. The U.S. players will say that the Canadian players were snorting coke, extorting money, performing circumcisions and had guns but it does not make it so.
“2) Your understanding of the Laws of the Game is incorrect. The referee could not issue a yellow card for delaying the game. It is not like a goal kick where you can issue a yellow card for “delaying a restart”. The only thing the referee can do is award an indirect free kick.”
That is where the ref should have issued her proper warning and walked over to McLeod. To take it one step further, that is the reason the indirect free kick is never called on that play. On all other delay of game instances the ref can issue a yellow but not on that particular play because it is from open play? Delay of game is delay of game whether it is open play or not. If you want to get technical, the ref could not call a PK on next play but nothing stopped her from doing that! As I said previously.
The ref was not playing by the book, otherwise Solo would have gotten called a few times as well. She was favoring the US, plain and simple, and is hiding behind the rulebook.
“3) What former players are saying is irrelevant, since they know nothing about officiating. Where the referee made a huge error was WHEN she made the decision to whistle
it. There were numerous times she held the ball long and could have opted to whistle then. Whistling her at 10 seconds at that point was silly. But like I said again, she
was warned and was skating on thin ice.”
What Derek Rae says is irrelevant? Now that’s a good one. What is irrelevant is trying to prove that the indirect free kick was a good fair and just call. It was not called for Hope Solo and it should not have been called on Erin McLeod either. The ref fell into the trap of listening to the U.S. players who egged her on. There is a reason why this call is never made.
“4) I am very familiar with the Vedran Corluka yellow card (resulting in his second one and a red). It is comparing apples to oranges. The referee knew Croatia was going to
take their time on every restart to kill time. The referee for THAT specific game was well known to be a stickler for the rules. He blows his whistle to warn Vedran to take the free kick. Instead, Corluka stops short of the ball and then starts running backwards for another attempt. A harsh second yellow, but not necessarily an incorrect one.”
It was a very harsh yellow but to say it is like comparing apples to oranges is simply not true because it is a delay of game tactic. The only difference is that it is not from open play. Corluka stopped short because of the discussion he was having with Vedran Runje at the time and it threw him off and he/they wasted too much time. However, if you notice, the ref did give a warning to Vedran. Something the ref did not do with McLeod. A massive glaring difference which changes the entire perspective of fairness.
You still have not answered my question though and I try and answer all of yours. No need to worry as I already know the answer.
Was this the correct call?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ani9Wkx-TE
The bottom line is that the U.S. won that game using corruption tactics and the indirect free kick call is part of the corruption. There is no reason whatsoever to order the indirect free kick as I have been watching soccer my entire life with great enthusiasm and I have never seen that called. Gee, I wonder why??????
Trying to justify the indirect free kick call is homerism at its finest. If this was the other way around and it happened to the United States there would be a movie made out of the situation.
God Bless America
I feel for the soccer fans of America’s red-headed stepchild (Canada). They got screwed. But, if its true that the GK was warned multiple times, then she gets a fair share of the blame as well.
@Anonymous-
A couple of points:
1) It is true that the Canadian goalkeeper admitted she was warned by at least one of the referees to get rid of the ball sooner and then said something such as “but I didn’t think it was really a warning”. Then what the heck did she thing it was?
At least two US players have said that in addition to the Assistant Referee, the Center Referee warned her to get rid of it sooner.
2) Your understanding of the Laws of the Game is incorrect. The referee could not issue a yellow card for delaying the game. It is not like a goal kick where you can issue a yellow card for “delaying a restart”. The only thing the referee can do is award an indirect free kick.
3) What former players are saying is irrelevant, since they know nothing about officiating. Where the referee made a huge error was WHEN she made the decision to whistle it. There were numerous times she held the ball long and could have opted to whistle then. Whistling her at 10 seconds at that point was silly. But like I said again, she was warned and was skating on thin ice.
4) I am very familiar with the Vedran Corluka yellow card (resulting in his second one and a red). It is comparing apples to oranges. The referee knew Croatia was going to take their time on every restart to kill time. The referee for THAT specific game was well known to be a stickler for the rules. He blows his whistle to warn Vedran to take the free kick. Instead, Corluka stops short of the ball and then starts running backwards for another attempt. A harsh second yellow, but not necessarily an incorrect one.
@Franjo Tudjman
“2) Regarding Canada getting the short end of the stick? I would not have handled the six-second rule violation the same way that this referee did, but let’s go over some facts:
a) Before the start of the 2nd half, the assistant referee tells the Canadian goalkeeper that she has to get rid of the ball sooner.”
b) During the game, the center head referee told the keeper to get rid of it.
c) The final straw seemed to be the keeper holding the ball for 17 seconds, where she actually pump-faked a throw 3 times during this period.”
“Basically, this girl didn’t get it. Yes, harsh call, but when you have two referees on the field warn you and you then hold onto the ball for 17 seconds on the play before, you’re basically telling the refs “F-U”.”
That is false information. The head referee never warned her of getting rid of the ball. In order for the indirect free kick to occur the head ref needs to provide the warning. Regardless, the play has never ever been called. And I mean never. A yellow card should have been given to the goalie. You don’t just move an indirect free kick to the opponent’s goal after an apparent delay of game. People are trying to defend this saying that the rules are rules. Ok, rules are rules, but this has never ever been called in this manner. How can that happen? It can happen because it was the wrong call and incorrectly done. This is not open to debate. It was wrong on all accounts and weak and chincy and a cheese call. They spoke with Derek Rae and said he has commentated on almost 100 games this year and he has never scene that called.
“Abby Wambach got clobbered twice in the penalty area within a 30-second span around the 51st minute of the game and Tancredit actually steps on Carli Lloyd’s face while she’s on the floor (the play is on NBC’s website).”
Team U.S. uses illegal tactics on free kicks and setup picks on set plays like corner kicks. It is an illegal way to free players of their defensive assignments. Canada defended this illegal system well and should be applauded for it. Ask any team the U.S. plays against as they do this so Wamback gets a better shot at the corners.
Abby Wambach is a man anyway.
“It was not a well-officiated match for either team, but I wouldn’t say that anyone got hosed.
PS- On the hand ball that led to the penalty kick, the Canadian player clearly is not giving 10 yards on the indirect free kick….maybe if she had it wouldn’t have hit her hand.”
That was laughable. The majority of the calls go the way of the US and it is not even close. The player that got hit with the ball was beyond ten yards and it does not matter as there should not have been an indirect free kick anyway but if we look at the free kick you can see that it was ball to hand and unintentional. Therefore there should not have been a penalty kick. The ref chickened out when Wambach was screaming at her to call the PK and she gave in.
Let’s look at it this way. If the indirect free kick does not happen, and it should not have happened as I have never seen that call made in my life, and the U.S. end up tying the game than I and everyone else would have been the first people to congratulate the U.S. on a great comeback and a great game. But that cannot be said because the 3rd goal was given to them on a silver platter and was a horroneusly incorrect bad call. It is not debatable.
A similar situation happened to Croatia when we played against Belarus in Zagreb during the WC 2010 qualifiers. The end result was a yellow card for Vedran Corluka for delay of game. Unfortunately it was his second yellow of the match and as a result he had to sit against England the next game. The goalie for Canada should have received a yellow card in the same fashion. That would have been the fair and the correct thing to do. An indirect free kick?? That was wrong on so many levels.
The bottom line is corruption. You compound the two calls with a myriad of other decisions that went in favor of the U.S., plus the fact the US was down late in the game, this was clear corruption. The ref was not playing by the book, otherwise Solo would have gotten called a few times as well. She was favoring the US, plain and simple, and is hiding behind the rulebook.
Was this the right call? I already know the answer. Corruption……..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ani9Wkx-TE
Franjo hit it on the nail
@Ziva
Not gonna lie, I’ve seen all of the U.S’s games, and they’ve been as exciting as the men’s matches, and the Canada match was more exciting than any game I’ve seen in the Olympics.
Are we really discussing female soccer???????
@CroatHrvat……so let me guess…… Based on watching a game on a computer screen you can tell if a team had heart???? They lost to Spain because Spain is better. Give credit to our chicks, they played above their heads and ability this entire tourney. Today they came back to reality. Nice effort.
Always love it when people claim there was no heart during a loss, but suddenly there is heart during a win.
Guys, two things regarding the US/Canada game.
1) Only “known” lesbians are Rapinoe, Wambach and the head coach.
There are a lot of attractive ladies on the team like Alex Morgan and Solo…..and none of you have a shot at them. 🙂
2) Regarding Canada getting the short end of the stick? I would not have handled the six-second rule violation the same way that this referee did, but let’s go over some facts:
a) Before the start of the 2nd half, the assistant referee tells the Canadian goalkeeper that she has to get rid of the ball sooner.
b) During the game, the center head referee told the keeper to get rid of it.
c) The final straw seemed to be the keeper holding the ball for 17 seconds, where she actually pump-faked a throw 3 times during this period.
Basically, this girl didn’t get it. Yes, harsh call, but when you have two referees on the field warn you and you then hold onto the ball for 17 seconds on the play before, you’re basically telling the refs “F-U”.
Abby Wambach got clobbered twice in the penalty area within a 30-second span around the 51st minute of the game and Tancredit actually steps on Carli Lloyd’s face while she’s on the floor (the play is on NBC’s website).
It was not a well-officiated match for either team, but I wouldn’t say that anyone got hosed.
PS- On the hand ball that led to the penalty kick, the Canadian player clearly is not giving 10 yards on the indirect free kick….maybe if she had it wouldn’t have hit her hand.
@DinamoDennis
I don’t think he’s lost it yet…
@Elvis
You could probably say that about every womens sport.
The USA Womens Soccer team is 50% Lesbian.
@Denis Svirčić @poglavnik
Great posts!
That Canada v USA soccer game reminds me of Croatia v Spain at the Euro’s.
At first I was proud of the game we gave the worlds best but the more that time passes the more I feel sick to my stomach.
It only reinterates my feelings about the Spain game being fixed, just like that womens game was yesterday.
@Jarac
The “hottest chick on the team” has the smallest breasts I’ve ever seen on a woman.
Give me Lauren Sesselmann any day! 🙂
Didnt take long for Kranjcar to lose his starting spot at Dymano….
I watched only the last half of the match and like I said, Team USA women’s soccer got the calls in this one against the Canucks. I felt bad for the Canadians, they didnt deserve to go out like this. Team USA might be better on paper, but team Canada played stronger as a team, gave everything on the pitch and should have won.
I hope Spain basketball loses to France after not showing up against a decent Brazilian team made up of role players from the NBA just so they dont have to face team USA until the final.
Huge, huge, huge sports day tomorrow… Dinamo, Cro Handball quarter, Cro waterpolo quarter, mens bball
@Jarac
Thank you for showing the world once again how true propaganda works and how easy it is to win when you pay off the referees. I would not be too proud of that victory. Pure garbage.
This is not the first time you screwed us.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ani9Wkx-TE
Notice the pattern? Are you not good enough to win playing the game on an even playing field? Do you have to resort to buying the officials and cheating?
Canada > USA – Any day of the week times infinity!
To our little red headed step children to the North, thanks for the entertaining game, nice to see the hottest chick on the team score. Great job ‘merica
@poglavnik
I have never seen the indirect free kick called in a pro game. There was no need whatsoever to make that call.
The States were handed that game on a silver platter thanks to the referee. The States are an awesome team! No question about it. Which makes it even tougher when you have to play against the ref as well.
“Oh well, bottom line is we blew 3 leads in that game.”
Two leads were blown. The bottom line is the unfairness of the third goal for the U.S. which was gift wrapped and was not the fault of the Canadian team. Also, the penalty call was wrong. (not that it matters because there should not have been an indirect free kick). The free kick was ball to hand not hand to ball and completely unintentional. Therefore there should have been no penalty kick either.
Sinclair is just unreal!
I dont know if I’ve ever seen the 6 second rule called for an indirect free kick in a professional game (particularily at that point of the game), but I’ve definitely seen it called while playing the game growing up.
Oh well, bottom line is we blew 3 leads in that game.
The States are the best in the world for a reason.
Hats off to Sinclair!
Haven’t seen someone dominate a game like that in awhile.
Sammy, great stuff. Brazilian adult entertainment is the tops.
Dissapointed watching the Croatian womens handball team go out to Spain in the quarter finals just now. Lack of heart if you ask me, I’m not doubting the injuries picked up and the lack of luck but that should not conclude to a loss, the girls were in hot form and with more heart and passion I believe they could’ve tied up a Bronze at the very least.
Good call.
Indirect free kick????? Awarding a free kick from that spot is about as close to cheating by a ref that I have ever seen.
I have not seen that call in watching football my entire life. It’s a yellow card from any other ref. Also, the Canadian keeper, Mcleod, had the ball on the ground for a few seconds out of the total 8-9 seconds which most refs don’t count as part of the 6 seconds. Someone might say that this is the proper call but when is it ever enforced??? Please let me know and good luck.
How and why the ref makes that call at that time of the game is absolutely ridiculous and Canada not only had to play against the U.S. but also the ref who should have had a U.S. jersey on. Most if not all the calls in that game went to the U.S.
Highway robbery!
Canada did not lose that game. It was taken away from them and it was a miscarriage of justice. It will show a 4-3 win for the United States but anyone that knows anything knows that was just not right and to be honest that is the problem with footy. Generally speaking the officiating in this sport is horrific! Too many times you have bad calls made in which you just shake your head and that should not be happening.
I will say one thing about the women’s footy. They dive way way less than the men and it is so refreshing to see!
Christine Sinclair proved she is the best women’s footy player in the world. Fantastic game!
Canada wins the next women’s World Cup. You heard it here first.
I will be happy with one gold.
Heartbreaker for team canada against the USA. Hell of a game, but the US got the calls.
Double gold in Waterpolo and Handball would be so sweet!
Its all Ive got left to follow for after watching my Canadian girls loss to the States today.
Nice read, great job Zach.
Water polo quarters wont be easy against team USA. Handball quarters against Tunisia isn’t bad at all with France the most likely semifinal opponent.
Nice to watch Spain basketball lay down for Brazil so they wont have to face USA until the finals, if they make it that far.
All in all, the Olympics have been good so far.